My goal would be 500 hp or as close to it as possibleMy budget is $2500 all to the machine shop I can't afford to have work done on the 049 heads plus it seems I have a head start with the 359's with the larger valve and lower compression. I'm guessing a 2500 stall converter I have 3.08 gear ratio now and will leave it for time being

Any advise is greatly appreciated

Confused about buying a flat top or dome piston along with size. how good would the 049 be with a flat or dome piston with no work at all. Càm of courseIs it better to have compression with dome piston and open head or flats with semi open 67 chevelle Thanks guys!!!!!

Building a decent performing big block engine is never going to be dirt cheap but the results can be impressive without spending $4000 plus like most of the magazine articles will suggest,I could rather easily list a well known combo of effective parts that could be used but its been my experience that almost no one will follow the parts list exactly, simply because they will find less expensive parts,and use those,and not one guy in 20 will think there will be a difference in the results. but trust me when I tell you the results will be far different!(thats a bit like substituting 1 cup of salt for one cup of sugar in a cookie recipe, because the two ingredients look similar,and you found salt on sale, then being amazed and confused when the cookies made with the non-listed ingredient don,t come out nearly as good) nor is it likely the suggested machine work listed would be done correctly, in most cases , simply because machine work tends too cost money and if your not sure whats being done and WHY ITS BEING REQUIRED, it tends to be ignored,so the best route is a quick education in why things are done and whats required, with a bunch of reference material, that you can read through and then decide what YOU CHOOSE TO DO! ON YOUR BUDGET

BTW, , on BIG BLOCKS the oil pumps and oil filter adapters are different due to the block oil filter recess and rear seals being different

mark iv blocksmark v blocks(keep in mind that ALL '91 and later Gen.V and Gen.VI big blocks come with 4-bolt main caps. The two-bolt big blocks are no longer in production MANY BUT NOT ALL aftermarket head designs have been modified to work on both the early MARK IV 1965-90 and later MARK V & VI blocks 1991-later.)BTW, , on BIG BLOCKS the oil pumps and oil filter adapters are different due to the block oil filter recess and rear seals being differentGEN 4 or MARK IV

GEN V and VI]BUY SOME USEFUL INFO (BOOKS)they will provide you with a great deal of useful info for the low cash outlay..

If IT was my goal to build a 454 with the best value per dollar spent for a similar application as listed above Id start with,and keeping in mind this is a street driven muscle car, not a race engine you want, too build an engine designed too produce an instantly accessible and impressive torque curve in the 2000rpm-5500rpm range is what I'd strongly suggest concentrating on, here. the fact that if your forced to buy pistons rings and bearings, makes it a fact that theres little financial gain or loss in upgrading to a cast steel scat 4.25" STROKE CRANK AND THE FAR STRONGER 6.385" scat forged rods,and increase the displacement to ,489 cid, AS THE DIFFERENCE IN COST WILL LIKELY BE LESS THAN $600 TOTAL, and while thats significant extra money its also money very well spent, as the extra displacement and compression, plus the upgraded strength all make the swap well worth the cash outlay.price out the new pistons, new rings, new bearings and getting your old rods fitted with ARP rod bolts, crank journals polished. if required, and having the old rods resized and youll quickly see the benefits, and probably be shocked at the low difference in total cost finding a good used edelbrock air gap dual plane intake manifold (maybe $150-$175 or less)on ebay , craigs list,or a local swap meet.if your in need of new pistons Id just buy a complete scat 4.25" stroke rotating assembly, AND TRY TO GET A 10:1-10.3:1 static compression, keep in mind the cams linked below will seem milder in the larger stroke enginehttp://store.survivalmotorsports.com/scat-1-91505.htmlScat Chevrolet Big Block Rotating Assemblies

Information on this site has been checked for accuracy and reliability. We are not responsible for errors, omissions, or unintentional misrepresentations. Warranty and liability for products purchased from Survival Motorsports is limited to replacement of the product or a refund of the purchase price, and is entirely at the discretion of Survival Motorsports. Prices are accurate as published, but we reserve the right to change them at our discretion without prior notice.Id stick a mild cam in it, to allow it to breath, add headers,and find a decent used 750cfm holley carb.

a combo like that should produce about 530 ft lbs and about 475 hp or more at the flywheel , and it could easily be more if your careful at the port work and assembly, yet it will still function with that 3.08 rear gear as the off idle torque is available, and yes its very likely you could significantly boost those power numbers with raised compression, better cylinder heads , a single plane intake design,a larger cam duration and lift a 3.73:1 rear gear and use of a 3000rpm stall converter, but that puts the results at a far higher cost

IF YOU CAN,T SMOKE THE TIRES AT WILL,FROM A 60 MPH ROLLING START YOUR ENGINE NEEDS MORE WORK!!"!IF YOU CAN , YOU NEED BETTER TIRES AND YOUR SUSPENSION NEEDS MORE WORK!!